This invention relates to a handy camera suitable for photographing by amateurs. More particularly, the invention relates to a cheap camera installed with an electronic flash for obtaining flashes by utilizing discharge of a discharge tube.
In order to spread cameras, it is necessary to provide cheap cameras which can easily be operated night and day.
Cameras which can be operated very easily and can provide photographs of an appropriate quantity of exposure merely by pushing shutter buttons in the case of day photographing have already been developed. However, at night or in the dark place an artificial light source should be employed for photographing. When an artificial light source is employed, a photograph of an appropriate quantity of exposure cannot be obtained only by pushing a shutter button, but an appropriate value of the iris opening should be chosen depending on the distance to an object to be photographed. Selection of an appropriate value of the iris opening is very troublesome and difficult to amateurs. Further, it is necessary to carry in hands an artificial light source as well as a camera. Accordingly, amateurs seldom conduct photographing at night. Furthermore, amateurs often do not carry artificial light sources because of such troubles, and they often are unable to take photographs in the evening or under such conditions that it seems relatively light but actually considerably dark. If photographing is daringly conducted in such case, good photographs can hardly be obtained.
Accordingly, development of cameras which will make it possible to conduct photographing easily even at night has been eagerly desired in the art. The portability will be improved by installing in a camera an artificial light source, especially an electronic flash for obtaining flashes by utilizing discharge of a discharge tube. In fact, several kinds of cameras installed with electronic flashes have been proposed. All of these cameras are still insufficient in the portability because of a large size or special shape. Each of these cameras, however, is advantageous in that an electronic flash can be used any time it is desired. Some of them are very expensive because contrivances are made to improve the operability, and their sizes are large and their shapes are not suitable for carrying. On the other hands, in cheap cameras installed with electronic flashes, photographing conditions are very limitative, and they are not preferred from the practical viewpoint. In a typical instance of cheap cameras of this type, both the shutter speed and the iris opening value are set, and even by such simple camera, sufficient photographs can be obtained because the quality of films has recently been highly improved. Accordingly, such cameras are broadly used because of the low price and simple operation. However, in these cameras both the shutter speed and the iris opening value are set, and therefore, photographing conditions are much limited and these cameras leave much to be improved. If only the iris opening value be made variable, limitations on the photographing conditions will be substantially removed. However, it is one of difficult problems for amateurs how to select an appropriate value of the iris opening. Further, in cameras installed with electronic flashes, the standard for selection of appropriate values of the iris opening at the time of using an electronic flash is quite different from the selection standard for photographing in the day-light. Therefore, confusion arises in selecting appropriate values of the iris opening.